Let's figure out how to make a DIY eGPU (previously DIY ViDock)

Win XP prints critical errors back to the onboard X3100 graphics in VGA mode when I disable the X3100 pci-e resources prior to boot.

Win7 we haven't figured out how to completely disable the onboard graphics.. it's still active and Win7 will not boot if it's pci-e resources are disabled.

I believe someone needs to do some registry hacking in the devicemap section. Would help too so can get 4GB RAM working.

 

probably need to rename the onboard card/change its ID somehow before win7 boots so it won't detect it as a videocard.. without flashing the bios of course

will setting VGAEnable to 0 be useful? http://www.tssc.de/products/tools/pciscope/pcitool.htm

maybe you could find win7's database of videocards pci ID's and remove the one you need from there or maybe it's in the driver

what happens if you disable onboard video in win7 after it's booted, in device manager?

 

This is such an interesting project, if not the most interesting one on the entire forum. You need to start a company haha.

But is it possible one could acquire an MXM 3.0 -----to-----> full size PCI-E x16 slot adapter? If so that could make things easier to do. One would just have create some kind of hole for the cabling to go outboard, and of course that would kill the laptop's mobility though lol I myself will be embarking on a somewhat high level project soon: converting an Asus G50 and seperate monitor into an all-in-one computer. In the planning stages right now.

 

There's a parallel NBR project Let's figure out how to convert internal MXM connector an external PCI-E x16 box. Would be great to see what they come up with.

 

I tryed that with setpci, and the screen froze as soon as the command was executed, I am guessing its not expecting this to be set while the card is in use.

I also set the external cards bus VGAEnable to 1a (which is what my onboard register is set at) but this didnt work either. I confirmed that change by dumping my pci info to a BPD file that pciscope could read after that command was executed. The funny thing is, that when the card works with <=2.5 gigs of ram the VGAEnable is not set on the external cards bus, maybe Win7 does that, I only can dump my pci info before windows starts...

I disabled the bus and the onboard display adapter in device manager and it did nothing, it still booted right to the onboard vid card...

I dont know much about registry hacking, so im not sure if I could be of any help there, I would have to do more research...

 

For registry hacking, I have attached something usefull.

This thing will actually extract any key that you point to.

 

Then, would integrated graphics be running along the dedicated card? Would it act similar to a dual card config? I mean, I can't imagine the desktop card would benefit from the low powered integrated graphics?

 

In 2510P.bat I've just set the mPCIe bridge hosting the HD4670 to use the memory and I/O window as my X3100 has, which Win7 saw as conflicting and reassigned automatically. Maybe this is problematic on your system?? So try to manually assign it in a non-conflicting range instead. Example image shows free ranges on my 2510P with a sample BG46-W7.BAT you can edit the range for and run instead of 2510P.BAT.

BG46-W7.bat Code: @echo off :: Win7 + Packard Bell BG46 with HD4670 on mPCIe port2 :: 0/1C/01 (mPCIe Port2)- Bridge 4KB I/O Window setpci -s 00:1c.01 1c.w=2020 :: 0/1c/01 (mPCIe Port2) - Bridge 256MB Memory Window from C00000000-CFFFFFFF setpci -s 00:1c.01 24.l=CFF1C001

- Change the I/O Window.
- Disable any non-needed devices.
- Double-check the power you are supplying to the card. If not enough power, then it won't work.
- Worth testing your HD4670 video card in a desktop system to ensure it works.
- Yes, do post a link to a youtube video. You are the first to report such an unusual anomoly.

 

Change the 2020 value??

I have disabled the wireless adapter and the lan adapter but it does work

I'm using a 19v 4,62A laptop adapter (dc jack).

A friend has tested the card and it works.

The video is being uploaded. Try in 10minutes.

 

Founded a solution. I tried to disable the onboard graphic and it works.

I added this to win7 solution:

set blank_igp=true
set disable_igp=true

It apears to work.

 

i'd like to have a go at this but i live in the UK. does hwtools ship to the uk or is there a uk seller for these parts. i was also wondering what are the chances of this mod working with the laptop in my sig. i will be getting myself windows 7 before i test this out. i was thinking ill try it with a 4850 or 4870 as they now only cost around £100 gbp and i will just build a desktop with it if it doesnt work. i was going to try it through the expresscard only as i dont want to open my laptop to get to the mini pci express slots

 

Yes. hwtools ship international. It's US$77-shipped for the PE4L+EC2C which your Sony Vaio NR21Z can use via the expresscard slot. Just add your desktop video card and a PSU to run it. The HD5750 a good choice as you could run it with a 90W AC adapter (ATI rate it at 85W).

The ATI card + onboard nvidia won't work with Vista. You'd need XP or Win7. It will work with Win7, only issue being you may need to use it only with 2.5GB of RAM until we figure out how to disable the onboard resources and enable the external graphics to be the primary display in Win7. I was able to get XP to work with 3GB, but it has a different driver model.

 

Finally got a PE4L + 5750, connected to inspiron 6400 with ati x1400, both leds were on, the fan was spinning at full power real loud lol (i thought it was going to be really bad if i had to listen to it), but win xp didn't see it, so i had to solder TP1. After that as soon as the laptop is turned on, the fan switches to low speed and now it's 10 times more quiet than the laptop's cooler and the cooling pad . Win xp detected it, installed drivers from cd.

Then i got a BSOD right after reboot, had to disable x1400 in safe mode (i guess because it isn't supported since catalyst 9.4+). So now i have error 12, the usb stick refuses to boot(used the hp utility) - bios just ignores it maybe b/c it's 16GB. Then i managed to burn nando's pci_bridgeconf.img file to a cd-rw with floppy emulation, but when i boot from it grub says it doesn't see the harddrive

the expresscard in inspiron 6400 is on port #4, 0:1C.3, port #1 is the wireless card and there is no access to mini-pcie on the bottom

Is there a way to convert that floppy img file to a bootable iso? also i don't get why did those M$ tools get rid of an option to boot into dos in win xp....would've saved a lot of trouble

 

That well and truly does not work with my X3100 in Win7. The second setting "disable_igp" disabling GMA950 resources (on DV2000), allowing XP to work with 3GB. Win7 would not work without the X3100 present and active for me. So am surprised by your comment, and also your youtube videos reveal very little here.

If you can bootup the pci_bridgeconf.img, then great - you've got a DOS prompt with all the tools you'd likely need. Suggest try the following:

Define 256MB memory window and 4KB I/O window associated with port4 (0:1c:03)

Code:

setpci -s 00:1c.03 1c.w=2020         
setpci -s 00:1c.03 24.l=DFF1D001
grub --config-file="menu.xp"

If you've got Linux with grub2 1.94b3 bootloader or newer, can do the same setpci commands above as memory described here instead. No need to even boot to DOS in that case.

Very curious to know how a HD5750 performs as it just *might* be able to be underclocked to work with 75/80W, since ATI rate it at 85W at full load.

 

thanks for answering im now considering getting this after ive bought a car next week. i have a copy of xp 32bit left over from an old desktop so i might be able to try to dual boot xp and win7 until i can use 3gb with win7. i also have a psu already but is the radeon 4870 faster than the 5750 or does the 5750 run better at x1 speeds. i also saw a 2gb sapphire radeon 4890 for not much more than a 4870 so i might consider that as well

 

Why in dv2000.bat the area of the selected memory 256 is assigned to the address CFF1C001?

 

tried win7 rc, 5750 doesn't have any conflicts, but the external monitor doesn't display anything. x1400 only works with standard vga driver, if i try to install a driver for it, BSOD happens (there is no driver for x1400 in the driver package for 5750). win7 only shows the default monitor attached to x1400 which acts as a default vga

if this is a driver issue, can i rename each dll and change their names in the .inf file in one set of drivers EASILY? i suspect different catalysts might be overwriting each other's files and that results in a crash when both cards are used. i'll try legacy 9.11 cats later

----------------------------

UPDATE: got 5750 working in xp with the full magma driver (FULL_FUNCTION_2_6.exe) right away, x1400 doesn't have a driver right now, it's a standard vga with a yellow icon - code 1 - not configured correctly. the only problem is that x1400 is stuck on a blue booting windows screen lol and i can't shut the laptop lcd down. if i install a driver for x1400 windows crashes - can't use a driver from 9.8 for x1400 and 9.11 for 5750 since they overwrite each others files.

 

cant you add the x1400 to the inf of the 5750 driver

 

Would I be able to use 2x by using the express slot (either 1 or 3) and combining it with the mpcie slot (port 5) by removing the wifi? Port 2 is used by the 8600m gt.

 

PCI Express* Interface
The ICH8 provides up to 6 PCI Express Root Ports, supporting the PCI Express Base Specification, Revision 1.1. Each Root Port supports 2.5 Gb/s bandwidth in each direction (5 Gb/s concurrent). PCI Express Root Ports 1–4 can be statically configured as four x1 Ports or ganged together to form one x4 port. Ports 5 and 6 can only be used as two x1 ports. On Mobile platforms, PCI Express Ports 1–4 can also be configured as one x2 port (using ports 1 and 2) with ports 3 and 4 configured as x1 ports.

http://www.intel.com/Assets/PDF/datasheet/313056.pdf

that's for gm965. so i guess ports 1-4 is one port and 5-6 another? does PE4H require a combined x2 port or 2 different ports?

 

Aloha All,

Haven't posted in a while, progress looks good. Just ordered my PE4H w/ EC2C on Friday (Xmas to myself). Going to be pairing it with a 5770. I still haven't seen anyone else with the AMD RS780M chipset like myself. I will post results (or lack thereof) as soon as its setup.

 

I downloaded the Fujitsu graphics booster driver and found there was an AMD northbridge filter. Interestingly the web shows a newer driver specific to your chipset:

AMD RS780M/M88 Graphic Driver Version: 8.631.1.0 Date: 03.09.2009

The graphics booster was updated to be able to use the internal LCD display as well as an external monitor/LCD. Would be very interesting if you could do some tests with it to see if you have any success there.

 

Mahalo Nando,
I was hoping this was the case due to the claim of Hybrid Graphics capability on the Chipset Techsheet. It does state specifically HD 2400/3400 series, but we'll see.

 

Malumake,

Here's the link to Acer Ferrari One's(also M780G based) video driver(100.5MB) that supports mobility HD4670 in Hybrid CrossfireX:
http://global-download.acer.com/GDF...=Ferrari one 200&OS=721&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=PA_6
It appears to be dated 2009/10/15 and the version is also 8.631.1.

The official page seems to be a little outdated:
http://www.amd.com/us/products/technologies/ati-hybrid-graphics/Pages/ati-hybrid-graphics.aspx
It says that 4 Series is not supported(PowerXpress only), which is not true.

I am not sure if the 100MB driver includes any desktop card drivers but it is very likely that it would be possible to trick the chipset into doing Hybrid CrossfireX with a desktop card.

 

Malumake, worthwhile emailing hwtools and asking status of PE4M instead. By the last details in the progress link, it should be nearing completion. It sounds to provide 4 inputs into to lane 1-4 giving it a lot more flexibility to link back to the I/O chipset than PE4H.

Awesome. If the AMD chipset can do either of the following as we've discussed, then it would be preferred for DIY ViDock usage:

- x1 2.0 link via the pci-e 2.0 link (might be northbridge only, so perhaps doesn't apply)
- direct desktop video graphics to notebook's internal LCD

Looking forward to seeing Malumake's results.

 

Integrating a desktop driver into Mobility Catalyst might not be a straightforward process. Might require some skills.

 

To everyone on this thread- thankyou. I feel there is more authenticity and evidence in peoples experiences of building this creation themselves and it has more value and ingenuity than vidock provides. It is not surprising when there are so many tech gurus working together in experience and practical application rather than comparing theories.

I have some 2 questions: (I apologise if this is not the right place for these questions but i didn’t know where else to write it, let me know if there is a better place and I will write future comments there)

1) I have a dell xps 1330 T7250 2.0 ghz and a spare nvidia 8800 gts 640 mb. I am assuming the 8800 will work because Nando got the gtx 290 and the ati 4870 working on a dell xps 2.2 ghz.
Are you telling me If i go to hwtools.net – buy a PE4H for $85, get a 650w PSU which is what the 8800 needs and i go

PSU + PE4H + 8800 GTS + XPS 1330 = ?
and thats it?

There are cries for help and many poor souls on vidock’s facebook section would be delighted to hear there is a proven and simple alternative to the Vidock they can DIY in 3 easy steps at ¼ the price.

This would benefit the global community. And there is big $ in it for anyone interested. Which leads onto my entrepreneurship mode of imagination:


2): If we can put a video card into an external gubbin "orky language from warhammer 40k" and add it to a laptop, can we do the same with processors or memory? If we consider that it is proven that we can now have up to 8 “NVIDIA graphics cards from the GeForce 6600 to the GTX 280 working together with little to no software overhead with nearly linear performance scaling.”

Which is 8 different cards adding up to one total performance 1+1=2.
What about 8 different processors adding up to one process?

Do not forget our computers evolved from calculators and numerics. And if I am not wrong binary code which is still used now is just that.

If this company lucid can do it with video cards whos to say you cant do with with processors in the same way as people are doing here with video cards? External processors added to gubbins?

I want to say – “Hell with spending $800 on an i7 intel core when I can buy a 2ghz core for $50 and add it to what i have already. Hell you know what? I can later go up to 32ghz if I want to”


“What is conceivable in mind is conceivable in matter”
Reference:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=607

PS

Mobius said "This is such an interesting project, if not the most interesting one on the entire forum. You need to start a company haha. "
From my point of view there is nothing stopping a successful company from being created. The only limitation is ones mind, experiences and education.

This thread is not about limitation. It is about possibility. You have proven it has what it takes to things this far. Theres nothing really stopping taking it all the way to making several million $ and serving the global community for providing cost effective solutions to IT upgrades.

Why buy a new pc when you can just add a bit on and get the same for 1/4 of the price?

The revenue generated by such a product could easily take over the entire market.

Well without further ado I shall let you tech guru's continue!
If anyone is interested in contacting me further do so here or my email is [email protected]

 

Hey, you dont need a 650 watt psu to power the 8800 GTS, you only need to power the card itself, that card maxes out at < 300 watts (250 at load) so a 300 W power supply would be all you need for that setup. My god thats a lot of juice, my ati 5770 uses 120 watts max
That setup should work on the 1330, with win7.

From a computer science background, I would say adding an additional external cpu is not possible with current architectures, we are talking about totally different beasts when you go from GPU to CPU. As far as I know anyway...

 

Hey Scott, thanks for that message. Appreciate it. Yea I do have win 7 (wub). By the way I heard something about I might have to remove my..erm.. wireless card? Erm, do I have too? ?

Ill re read nando's tests with his XPS..
So this stuff is really just plug n play? Man I cant wait to add a signature to my name that ive got it working. Its like transformers! No longer an Xps 1330 but XPS PRIME

Philosophically science is a social process and its knowledge is not set in stone. Knowledge is bound by inter-subjectivity and consensus over some immovable objectivity. Whether Physics or Psychology I can say with experience and certainty the paradigms of science are changing as measuring the immeasurable becomes experimentally sound.

Tech Gurus of the Adeptus Mechanicus:

What does an architecture need in order to get external CPU's working?

PS : has anyone got any knowledge on or tried to make a plastic box or container for the PE4H?

 

Ok so just to be sure and to help my thinking this is precisely what I would need to get this all working - just the two components I have put the prices for as I have the other bits.

 

no you dont because you have an express card slot.
Unless you want to try getting a 2x link.

 

To be honest, Im no electrical engineer so I dont know... It might be possible, but I dont think it would be very practical... I think there are multi CPU socket motherboards out there but I think they are only used on supercomputers and such...

See here, I mounted mine in a dead xbox 360 case, and powered it with the 360 power supply, you wouldnt be able to use the power supply I used though because the one I used is only 175 watts... Nobody else that I know of has built an enclosure and shared it on here yet...

 

newer videocards can act as external cpu's of sorts with cuda/directcompute

 

@ Hazard - Thanks man. I do not think losing internet on XPS is worth better GPU processing.

@Scott - I heard of the idea that external CPU's were not possible due to structural positioning. How does electricity come into processing? Is this due to the mhz of the processor being electromagnetic waves?

Therefore to combine the internal CPU with an CPU would be a matter of amalgamating the mhz together right?

I like what youve done with the xbox. Its a neat fit and shows real skill. For a quick option for us not able to get an empty xbox case I was considering mini itx cases preinstalled with a 300w psu.

@Key001 Does this external CPU add to the original CPU?

 

Awesome thread, was considering purchasing the vidock 2 for xmas but now im seriously reconsidering now that I see how simple the connections are. I have been thinking about this very same concept for months now so this really excites me.

I just have a few questions, if I may please:

1) I can't seem to make out the connector FROM the expresscard/(34 im assuming) connecting TO the PE4H (mini-hdmi I believe i read in prior post??)

2) Anyone know if PE4H can be purchased at local ComUSA, BestBuy, RadioShack etc? I know this is very specific products so I am assuming NO. If it is indeed avail. at a US location I absolutely do not mind spending the extra $.

3) Drivers. Suppose your laptop native GPU system is nVidia, and you choose to go with external ATi card with PE4H. Assuming you wanted to take your laptop on the road with you, how difficult would it be driver-wise to switch back and forth between cards? I would assume once ExpressCard was disconnected, CPU would automaticlly revert back to onboard GPU config and drivers.

4) Where can you purchase an ExpressCard with that particular male or female (from what I can make of it appears to be female) adapter on the end? (Mini-HDMI I assume as I wrote earlier). I have never seen them in any computer store. Majority of expresscard configurations are media readers, USB 2.0 adapters, networking devices, etc.

5) Since PSU will solely be powering the gfx card, will there be any risk of "frying" the GPU? Is there some sort of capacitor that would be needed in lieu of an entire motherboard system vs. single gfx. card?

6) One final question, perhaps someone can help me out with. I purchased an HP HDX 16 serious laptop about 6 months ago. I know there is alot of confusion between all the CardBus/Expresscard 34/54 etc, 16-bit, 32-bit etc etc. I recently learned a TON about this particular issue after being duped by Creative after one of their products did not specifically disclose "WILL NOT WORK ON EXPRESSCARD SETUP" on the packaging. So, I apparently have ExpressCard/54, 26-pin connector. Will the particular type of ExpressCard mentioned in the above-referenced tests be compatible with my laptop? I am guessing yes..

I think this is a OUTSTANDING idea and am virtually shocked the big boy manufacturers haven't caught on to this extremely simple yet ingenious idea. This same principal could theoretically be applied to just about any PCI/pci card on the market, Sound cards, gfx cards, etc. Possbilitites are limitless.

wish u all the best

Panzer

 

Both ends use mini-HDMI connectors.

Highly unlikely. Don't be afraid of ordering from hwtools.net though, for me the whole process was entirely painless. They shipped by FedEx and I received the tracking number by email, the package took only a few days to arrive and was delivered at my door.

Based partially on my own experiences, partially from posts in this thread:
XP - You have to turn off the computer to switch video cards, but ATI/nvidia should be able to happily co-exist
Vista - Both graphics cards must use the same driver, i.e. they must be from the same manufacturer.
Windows 7 - You can supposedly switch video cards by suspending the computer. ATI/nvidia should be able to happily co-exist.

The drivers for your external card will not be active when the card is disconnected, and should not have any detrimental effect on your system

I don't think you can get it anywhere other than hwtools.net. Buy their "PE4H with EC2C" bundle and you'll get everything you need (sans video card and power supply of course)

I doubt it. These power supplies are usually (always?) regulated, which means that they will adjust themselves to keep the voltage within the correct range regardless of what the load is.

Yes.
ExpressCard 34 cards can be used in 34 and 54 slots
ExpressCard 54 cards can only be used in 54 slots
CardBus (sometimes called PC Card or PCMCIA) cards can only be used in CardBus slots.

The electrical bus that connects the CPU to the rest of your computer is blindingly fast, up to 400 gigabits per second (Gbps). In order to achieve this speed it must have a huge number of electrical connectors (700-1400) and the lines on the motherboard must be very short (only a few centimeters max). An external CPU wouldn't work because A: the wires would be too long, B: soldering 1400 wires by hand is a bit unrealistic, C: your motherboard can't use multiple CPUs unless it has been specifically designed for that purpose to begin with. A few motherboards (mainly for servers) come with sockets for 2-4 CPUs.

An external graphics card on the other hand is much easier to make, we're using a PCI-Express x1 connection which has a bandwidth of just 2-4 Gbps, and it only needs 18 wires.

Cool comparison of different device bandwidths

If we assume that you could build an external CPU, you would still not get double the performance in most cases. Most of the software we use today doesn't scale linearly with the number of CPUs. This happens because not all computing tasks can be split across multiple CPUs, some things are limited to run on only one processor. The speedup you get depends on the ratio between parallelizable and non-parallelizable code in the applications you are using (this is known as Amdahl's law in computer science). Software with 75% parallelizable code will only get a speedup of 4x, no matter how many CPUs you add. ( Nice graph)

That's not saying that you can't get a significant speedup though! That's why dual and quad core processors are popular... You typically don't get double the speed with two cores, but the speedup is still great enough to warrant the upgrade.

Yes, but it will only work with software that has been specifically created to run on graphics cards. The processor on a graphics card (GPU) is very different from a normal CPU and can't perform as many different types of tasks. Instead it is capable of performing a small number of very specific tasks extremely quickly on lots of data at the same time. Some types of multimedia processing and scientific computing can benefit from this; e.g. large scale physics simulations, multiplication of extremely large matrices, or Folding@Home.

Sorry about the long post! I couldn't help myself...

 

Well, I was going to respond but Max_Headroom beat me to it. BTW Max that is a great link for the various bus speeds. (Great response overall as well Max!)

Eye, Feel free to order from HWtools. I ordered on the 28th, it shipped on the 30th and I got it on the 1st. Thats from Taiwan to SoCal. I'm waiting for the Video Card now. I think I'm going to throw a cheapy at the PE4H to see what it does.

 

Sorry for quoting the entire msg... =) but thank you, Max, for your very precise reply. However, you mention I should purchase the PE4L combo. I am wondering, did you actually mean PE4H? It appears as though the PE4H card supports PCIe x16, which apparently is todays most common card interface pin configuration. On HWTools the PE4H product description is pretty precise, however it does not note if it supports PCIe 2.0 technology or not.. (if 2.0 has any relevance Im not sure).

Unless I am mistaken please forgive, it's all just a tiny bit confusing and I Dont want to end up with the wrong adapters. =(

but thank you for your knowledge and time, anyway..

Panzer

 

Yes, my mistake, I meant the PE4 H, which would be the most elegant solution. I'll update my original post. The PE4L should work in theory as well (the PCIe socket is open-ended, so it should be able to accept larger cards, I don't know if anyone have tested it though) and is cheaper, but I'd go with the PE4H anyway unless the price is very important.

Again, PCIe 2.0 should work in theory, but I don't know if anyone have tested it. If you use a PCIe 2.0 graphics card with an ExpressCard 2.0 slot you will get double bandwidth on the interface, but no laptops have implemented ExpressCard 2.0 yet. PCIe 2.0 graphics cards work fine with the current ExpressCard 1.0 slots, but only at PCIe 1.0 speed. The next time you upgrade your laptop you may get a ExpressCard 2.0 model though, in which case you'll get a significant performance boost out of your external graphics card.

 

I would also like to explicitly thank Max for his earlier killer post.

 

100% completely positively understood. It's funny, right after I posted my previous reply to you I clicked on some link to Expresscard 2.0 under wiki and read 2.0 technology was in fact backward-compatible with 1.0.

I am seriously considering this PE4H package and am currently contemplating over which gfx card to accompany it. I was considering this card http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4494046&Sku=E145-0250. It appears not to best the very best, but somewhat of a nice balance between performance and price amongst the sea of gfx cards available. If anyone else has any suggestion they are most welcome.

I also wonder, not sure if this has been discussed yet, if the PE4H or expresscard itself would need an exclusive driver or not? Would win7 recognize it the moment it was inserted o so smoothly into expressport?? =)

Also, Im doing the math vs. ViDock.

PE4H: $85 + SH $22 = $107
nVidia GTS 250 Card: 136
PSU: 20
-------------
$263. Vidock with gfx card (radeon 4670 seen here http://www.compusa.com/applications...?EdpNo=4843025&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs, comprable with above mentioned nvidia card) $300. plus SH assuming) Nvidia card has higher clock speed among some other better specs, so actually you could get a better card for less money than vidock.
So yeah, I suppose you'd save a bit, and also as someone else mentioned you're not limited by the size of the ViDock enclosure. PRice could also be +/- depending upon $ of card. I'd say better deal would be the DIYDock, not the ViDock.

I'm sorry, i know this is off-subject but check out this hardcore gaming system, at least to compusa's standards: http://www.compusa.com/applications...?EdpNo=4945609&csid=ITD&body=MAIN#detailspecs Man, Im sure that beast could churn out at least a whopping 10 FPS on Crysis with settings on high.

 

If you're buying a new graphics card specifically for use with the ExpressCard adapter, you may want to consider a Radeon card instead - unless you must have a GeForce for compatibility reasons, of course. Previous posts suggest that Radeon cards don't lose as much performance from being limited to an x1 PCIe link. ( Reference - this is from 2007, so the situation may have changed since then. It's unfortunately the best comparison I've seen so far though.)

 

Yeah, I see what you're sayin but I think I'll stick with nvid.. more dev's today just seem to be using nvid stock than ati.. regardless of all that my gpu is nvid so like you pointed out for compatiblity issues I think it may be best to go with that...

 

you should get a card with 1GB memory otherwise there might not be enough memory to run some games with large resolutions like GTA4 at 2500x1???

pe4h/l is just a connector, win/xp7 see the card as if it was a desktop and you plugged in a videocard into the motherboard, be preapred to mess with it though if there's error 12s, etc

compusa always had ripoff prices, but it's been bought out by tigerdirect

 

Many people are under this illusion where "more memory the better", which has been prepatrated by the computer insudstry advertising bombardment. Many articles all over the net have been done disproving the theory that games will run better simply with a card that has more memory. The bottom line is bandwidth/memory clock speed. 256MB GDDR3 would demolish a 1GB DDR2 card any day.

Now if you're sayin get a card with 1GB gddr3 then yeah I agree, but the price will rise considerably. I was trying to remain around 200-300 bucks total.

Supposedly many cards equipped with 1GB DDR2 ram aren't even capable of utilizing all of onboard RAM due to bottlenecks in the bandwidth capablities of the card. I have P7550 CPU DC 2.26ghz w/ 1GB geforce GT 130M. At first glance one might assume these specs would run most modern games on high settings with relative ease. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Due to the fact that my vid ram is DDR2, most games ran at 1920 x 1200 with settings maxed are virtually un-playable. Most of the time i have to stick to 1600 x 1200 with 0AA/0AS and settings to medium. With those few graphically-demanding games, such as Crysis, I have to go with 1024x768 with moderate settings just to achieve mid-20 FPS. Hence the reason of my interest in the DiYDock. =)

If any of this is incorrect please submit replies =)

 

Okay guys, i dont have any time to read through 105 pages, i have windows 7 64 bit installed just bought it, how can i make my own diy graphic card. What do i need, are there any like kits for this besides vidock which is too much money. And would it be compatiable with my dell studio 1537?
Thanks guys

 

DIY ViDock - My experiences so far parallel thread created to answer such questions.

 

tomshardware recently did benchmarks with 512 and 1gb cards of GTA4 and 512mb wasn't enough in some cases like i already said at 2560x1600 resolution. the game just wouldn't start. don't have the link

 

No driver needed, it's a passive adapter.

 

found it
4870 2gb vs 4870 1gb vs 4870 512mb
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428-6.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/graphics-ram-4870,2428-9.html